The Maggette Dilemma

Warrior fans have been so disgusted for so long over Corey Maggette’s contract and performance, they’ve probably been reluctant to acknowledge this season’s reality: He’s playing his butt off, and might finally be valuable in trade.

The Warriors can hardly afford to deal him now, as he and Monta Ellis are the only players offering consistent scoring and leadership. And they figure to be only appreciably healthier by the trading deadline next month, with Anthony Randolph, Kelenna Azubuike, Brandan Wright and Raja Bell (probably) lost for the entire season.

Still, the Warriors need to move Maggette, while he’s healthy and going off. He has finally cast aside his obsession with long-distance shooting, and few players in the league have as much speed or explosiveness on drives to the hoop. Even if the team could live with his play — and right now, that’s not a problem at all — they can’t afford to have a player signed for three more years at $30.8 million (courtesy of one of Chris Mullin‘s most dubious moves). Not if they want to clear salary-cap space for free agents. So I guess you’d say it’s vintage Warriors. Here’s a man who has to stay and has to go. In the manner of Stephen Jackson and Jamal Crawford, to name the most recent examples, count on Maggette finding a place he can shine — and get noticed in the process.

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Part of the NFL’s off-season conversation will address the issue of teams benching their regulars in meaningless games, and thus cheating the fans. Commissioner Roger Goodell talked boldly of issuing penalties for such teams (or rewards, in the form of draft picks), and I’m all for commissioners making unilateral decisions without needing the approval of blowhard owners. If Bud Selig had such powers, we wouldn’t have the DH rule or World Series games in November. But the fact is, Goodell can’t solve this problem. Action to be taken: none.

First of all, if you’re one of the fair-to-middling teams who lost out on the playoffs because a winning team benched its stars, too bad. Get into the playoffs on your own merit and don’t worry what anyone else is doing. More than anything, though, this is a coaching issue. Executives can never tell coaches who to play, or what to do, at any time. They have no idea what’s going on behind the scenes, who could really use the rest, or how the dynamic changes (if at all) when a team appears to be giving up. Those calls come strictly from the field.

Besides, what qualifies as “playing”? As several NFL insiders have noted, if you only use Peyton Manning for a quarter, or a half, does that earn you a penalty? What if you order him not to drop back and risk getting pounded, instead just handing the ball off? Coaches’ jobs are on the line here, and if you don’t like what’s going on, fire him. But the commissioner has no right to throw a blanket over this issue, and it’s patently stupid to award draft picks to a team that blithely plays its regulars down the stretch drive of an already-clinched playoff season. What’s the intent there, to give powerful teams the chance to draft even more good players?

Some use baseball as an example of fair-minded play. Fans and the opposition are always satisfied when a non-contender plays its regulars against teams in the hunt, or when the top teams maintain integrity even in games they don’t need to win. That’s a different deal, though. Contenders never use their starting pitchers during the final weekend if they’re set for the playoffs and it affects their rotation. And there’s a big difference between trotting out your No. 1 right fielder and a quarterback exposing himself to brutal hits from an angry defensive end.

This has been a weird NFL season on many fronts. Incredibly, three of the four first-round games were matchups seen just a week before. The issue of benching regulars was particularly white-hot this year. Next season, it might not come up at all, which would be good. It’s a problem without a solution, so just leave it alone.

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3-DOTTING: The tennis season got off to a bang when Kim Clijsters won a thrilling three-set match against Justine Henin (back from an 18-month retirement) in the final at Brisbane, Australia. Here were two relentless competitors essentially unfamiliar with the godawful mental breakdowns so common during stressful tour matches. And they played in silence, a welcome break from the shriekers. Can’t get enough of that . . . Sorry to hear that Taylor Kitsch will be leaving “Friday Night Lights,” by far the best sports show ever aired on TV. His Tim Riggins character is a classic, and will be missed as the show completes its run (according to reports) with one final season . . . A’s fans, take heart: An American League scout told the Boston Globe, “When the Red Sox had Coco Crisp and Jacoby Ellsbury, who did they keep in center when they both played? Coco. It’s unfortunate he had so many injuries, because he’s really an extraordinary center fielder in term of running down the ball.” . . . Amazing: Even after an entire NFL season, nobody is quite sure what to make of Michael Vick — except that he was remarkably quiet both on and off the field. His arm looks decent, and he never complained about a lack of playing time in Philadelphia, but what about his running ability? We never really got a taste. In allowing Vick just 24 carries the entire year, maybe coach Mike Reid saw enough in practice to realize that it’s not the same Vick. At this point, he needs to start at quarterback somewhere (it won’t be Philly), but who would take that chance? . . . Sure is fun watching the Cowboys without wondering when Terrell Owens will drop his next pass. And it’s always enjoyable listening to Cris Collinsworth work with Al Michaels on NBC. As much as I liked John Madden, I didn’t think he’d be missed at all, and that seems to be the consensus among TV critics. Collinsworth is so good, Michaels said recently, it’s like “Mantle replacing DiMaggio.”